Gifted Gorgeousness December Link-up Post

        

Welcome to the December Gifted Gorgeousness link-up.  The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

Deb sent me the charts for the Stoney Creek 2019 Ornaments which were my Stitchmas project this year. I started all 12, one per day with the goal of completing one per month.  I didn't stitch one in Dark October so that left three for the last two months.  And here they are!

Happy Dance for Lords a'Leaping, Pipers Piping and Drummers Drumming.

Here's the whole series stitched on 32 count Lime Green evenweave before I cut them into individual pieces:

I plan to finish these into a concertina book in the New Year which will be easy to store and simple to fold out and display next year.

I've also been focusing on another 12 Days of Christmas project, this one is from Bothy Threads and was a Christmas present last year:

stitched on 32 count grey-blue linen

After November's link-up I continued to work on Fairy Idyll which was a gift from a friend.  I started stitching the purple frills on the bedding.  I chose my own shades for this rather than the charted pinks.

stitched on 32 count Murano in Vineyard from Crafty Kitten

And here's a little bit of Gorgeousness I received in the post.  Followers of the Advent Calendar may recognise this little dragon from Day 2!  

He came with some other goodies including these (not very) Ugly Jumpers, some walnut mice who will live in my Mouse House and a wonderful exploding card.

Thanks Jocondine!

Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month. Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "December Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month. And link to the actual post, not just your blog. It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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Finally, the SAL will be running again next year.   I'll get the Sign-up page up very soon, and a new Badge.  Same rules, same date, same gorgeousness!

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for December

     

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

Unfortunately I haven't fully finished ANYTHING this last month.  But I do have a nice recap of the year so hopefully that will do instead!

January

 

February

 

March



 

April

  

May

  

June

  

July

 

August

September

October

 

November

 

Totals are:

2 scrapbook pages

2 ornaments

1 banner

1 box

4 mice and 1 mouse house

21 framed pieces (1 by a professional framer and 20 by me)

Very different to the first two years of the SAL where scrapbook pages took first place both years,  I wonder what will Top the FFO Pops next year?

Finally, the Advent Calendar Blog Hop is in full swing and we are having a wonderful time discussing our Tree Traditions.  Don't forget to visit and comment each day.

The People Chose Fancy Finishes

   

This SAL is all about what you want to see on the blog. Each month I ask for suggestions for themes and then put them up to the members of the IHSW Group on FB to vote for their choice. This is what they have chosen:

December - Fancy Finishes

January - Designer for 2022

(a designer you are keen to stitch in the coming year)

February - Snow

What's your definition of a "Fancy Finish"?  Anything which isn't a basic frame, pillow or scrapbook page would count for me.  I'm not big on finishing but have got better over the years.  Practise does help!

This is probably one of my complex constructions:

Drac-in-a-Box from Acorn House Designs

The box itself wasn't difficult to put together but the little figure was interesting!  You can see more photos here - Come Happy Dance With Me

This is another little 3D finish, I found a curved needle very helpful here:

Sugar Almond Cottage from Nutmeg Company

This is a framed project but the method was rather different to usual.  I had the multi-aperture frame and used the glass pieces to work out what parts of the chart would fit in each window.

Christmas Angel from Joan Elliott

 The final finish I wanted to show is my Plum Street 12 Days of Christmas Box but I can't find where I stored the video to add it here, so I'll link to my Happy Dance blog which has it there - Come Happy Dance With Me

Now it's over to you.  All you have to do is make a post on the theme of Fancy Finishes, mention The People's Choice SAL (you can copy the picture I used at the top of this post and in my side bar) and my blog. Please link up using the URL of the actual blog post, not the home page of your blog.   I look forward to seeing what you all post.

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Finally, I need your suggestions for the next poll.  Anything, no matter how obscure, weird or random will go into the poll.  Keep the theme suggestions to a single word or two - so you could have Cats, or Green, or Holidays, or Warmth etc.   Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.

December TUSAL and my Stitching Library

     

It's TUSAL time!

Here is my TUSAL jar with two of my current projects:

On the right is my Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas.  I am stitching Day 11 and 12 together.

stitched on 32 count Lime Green evenweave

This is where I will pick up and restart the Bothy Threads Day 3:

stitched on 32 count blue-grey linen

What's on my Shelf?

This is a new feature I'm going to include on my TUSAL post until I run out of books! I started a Page on my Happy Dance blog for my Stitching Library and realised what a huge task it was so decided to break it down to one book per month. For the next four years...

What else could I have for this month but a Christmas book!

Title: Christmas Cross Stitch Collection
Author: Sue Cook
Publisher: David & Charles 
ISBN: 9780715325766

I am not sure if Sue Cook is still designing but this book is still available if you like her style.  She uses bright colours and a lot of backstitch.  In some of the designs every element is backstitched although not always in black, she favours DMC 838 as a nice alternative.

The book has a larger design for each chapter which is shown stitched and then numerous smaller motifs you could use for cards, ornaments or make a larger sampler yourself.  They tend to the cute side of the the festival and the modern secular side although there is a section with some religious designs.

Angel with a material skirt

Nativity design, this section includes various religious charts and other characters from the Bible story

The bottom of the Advent Calendar makes a nice design on it's own.

At the back there is a selection of alphabets including a rather fun one with fairy lights wound around the letters.  A lot of the designs don't have stitched models so I can't show them.

This little house is on the front cover and there are several more inside which I would like to stitch as a street scene.

Most of the designs are full stitches only so along with the blocks of colour would be ideal for a beginner stitcher.  A child would find the colour charts easy to follow too.

Finally, the Advent Calendar Blog Hop is off to a fine start, it's so much fun learning about everyone's Tree Traditions and I'm busy compiling a collage of mine from over the years.